Shadow Games
by Kage NoTenshi
Summary: What will Yu Gi do when someone tries to revive the shadow games?
1. enters Selket

Warning: This is a death fic.~.~; If you don't like this sorta stuff leave now. This story may contain spoilers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or it's characters. ~.~; 

^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^;

Yuugi breathed in deeply and let out a sigh of contentment, ignoring Jounouchi's endless talking. He'd never thought he'd feel like this, but school was actually a pleasure now. He had friends, a home, more than passable grades, and his grandpa back. It was nice this way, with everything peaceful. 

Without warning, a shadow fell over the four friends. Yuugi looked up…and up…and up…straight into an unpleasant grinning face. Everything about the newcomer read bully. 

"So, little Yuugi, you're a duelist now. I've watched." He flashed his glance over Jounouchi and Honda, causing them both to cringe. 

"This is just what I wanted, even if you've got friends with you. If you're so great, let's see how you deal with fists."

Yuugi glared back at the bully without blinking, even though he had to look up approximately four feet, ignoring Jounouchi's mutter of, 

"Sheesh, Yuugi, you just seem to be a bully magnet." 

The millennium puzzle hung around his neck, waiting, should he have to put on a few more inches all the sudden. The bully took a few slow, pounding steps towards them. Yuugi waited no longer. Letting his consciousness focus on the weight around his neck, he slipped into his Yami. _Yu…Gi-_ His transformation was cut off abruptly as a heavy fist slammed into his stomach. Jounouchi and Honda rushed forward, but in their hurry failed to see the lighting-fast attacks aimed at them. Both fell, conscious, but out of commission. Anzu gasped in horror and tried to help them up. The bully ignored her and fixed his gaze on Yuugi. 

"Well, small one, you're not so impressive now." He raised his foot for a crushing kick as Yuugi tried to struggle to his feet. 

"STOP."

Everyone froze at the authority in the voice. All gazes turned to the source. Standing on the steps of the nearest building was a girl. She wore the normal school uniform, marking her as one of Yuugi's classmates, had dark brown skin, and straight black hair that fell just below her shoulders. Even if she was barely taller than Yuugi, something about her radiated power. He glaring gaze not wavering from the bully, she slowly walked towards the hapless group. 

"Leave them alone," she said. 

Her voice was soft, yet strong at the same time. The bully seemed to have recovered by then, and he sneered as she bent over Yuugi. 

"Why should I listen to a shrimp like you?"

She straightened as soon as Yuugi was sitting up, but said nothing.

"You wanna move outta my way, or are you gonna make me move you?" He cracked his knuckles to make his point.

She slowly shook her head. Suddenly, the power Yuugi had sensed flowing from her increased dramatically. She spread her hands slightly, the way he did when he transformed, and a familiar eye-like symbol glowed on her palms. There was a shattering, cracking sound, and the bully crumpled. Yuugi stared in shock. He knew a mind crush when he saw one. He had, after all, used it on Seto Kaiba's evil side and on several other necessary occasions. 


	2. no bandaids or explanations

"I'm fine, really," insisted Yuugi as Anzu fussed over him, and Jounouchi and Honda fought over who would find an ice pack first. The new girl remained rather aloof, perusing the shelves in the game shop. Yuugi's grandpa had run to the shop down the street when he found they were out of band-aids, but would be back soon. Yuugi assured Anzu for the fifty-seventh time that he was okay, and limped across the room to the girl. "Thanks for stepping in back there."

"Sure. I needed to speak to you anyway. I'd rather not talk here, though, so maybe later."

Following her gaze, he smiled, hiding the confusion her comment had caused. "So…you like duel monsters?"

She closed her eyes briefly and shrugged. "I don't play the game."

He took a step back. "But…but…that power…don't you have a millennium item or something?"

She shook her head, grinning. "None at all. That's why I'm here, Mutou Yuugi."

His eyes widened. "How…?"

She smiled. "Explanations will come later. You can call me Selket." She extended her right hand towards him.

The simple, soothing gesture of friendship calmed him a little, and he shook her hand. Deep inside, though, something made him wonder. Maybe it was the fact that she used the name of an ancient Egyptian goddess, and one of the basic ones at that. In fact, if he remembered correctly, Selket was the scorpion goddess, of all things. 

At that moment, however, Jounouchi came tearing out of the back room with an irate Honda in pursuit. Apparently, Jounouchi had found ice cream in the freezer and called dibs on it, leaving none for Honda. They were arguing furiously over it when Anzu grabbed it. "For shame, both of you!" she scolded. "That's not yours! You can't just go taking Yuugi's grandpa's food!"

Jounouchi scuffed his shoe against the floor. "Aww man, Anzu, I'm hungry!"

"Yeah, me too!" put in Honda. 

Yuugi rolled his eyes and smiled in defeat. "Okay, I'll get bowls and everyone can have some."

"YAAYYYYYYYY!!!"


	3. dark magicians and explanations

Selket was helping clean up the ice cream bowls when Yuugi pulled her aside. "Umm…that stuff you wanted to talk to me about…how long will it take? Can you tell me now while they're busy?"

"Yeah, whatcha gonna tell him?"

Selket blinked as Jounouchi thrust his head around the corner and almost straight into her face. "They're not going to let me get a moment to talk to just you, are they?" she asked Yuugi, gesturing towards his friends and his grandpa.

He smiled the full innocent smile that only one so young and pure could give. "Nope."

She sighed, her face contrasting greatly with his. She seemed suddenly so much older, so unnecessarily intense. "Then I guess I can tell you all, provided they don't get in my way."

+

They sat in a circle as Selket sighed and began. "I guess, to start, I am a direct descendant of the pharaoh who locked away the shadow games."

Yuugi sucked in his breath sharply. "So it was true," he murmured.

She nodded. "Not only am I of his lineage, but I am the reincarnation of his high and favored sorceress, just as you, Yuugi," she paused, turning her piercing gaze on him "were once that honored pharaoh."

"WHAAAAAAT???"

"That's right, Jounouchi. Only, Yuugi doesn't remember. Somehow, I haven't lost my memories of those times."

Honda leaned back and smirked. "She's crazy." Anzu scowled at his manners.

Selket looked sad. "No, I'm not. Sometimes I wish I were, though."

"What do you mean?" asked Yuugi.

She reached for his deck. "May I?"

He nodded. "Just don't hurt anything."

Drawing the black magician from the top of the pile, she stood and dropped the card from an arm's length. It floated down and then stopped a few centimeters from the floor. Suddenly, it glowed a brilliant white-blue and elongated into a humanoid form. Yuugi blinked. Standing before him was the full size black magician. Slowly, he reached his hand out towards it. The magician inclined his head slightly in respect and acknowledgement and extended his staff towards his master. Yuugi touched it with slight apprehension and then gasped. "It's…it's solid!" he exclaimed. "It's not a hologram!"

Selket smiled at his wonder. "No, it's real as can be." She stretched out her hand, and suddenly the black magician was gone and only its card remained. Yuugi picked it up slowly and returned it to his deck. "You see," said Selket quietly, "I'm not crazy."

A stunned silence answered her. 

"Why…are you here?" Anzu managed to ask.

"For Yuugi."

"Me??"

She nodded. "Yep. I'm seeking out all of the bearers of the millennium items. Yuugi was the first one I found."

Jounouchi's eyes narrowed. "I won't let you hurt Yuugi!" he said. "We're a team, and you're not gonna harm him while I'm here!"

Yuugi smiled. "Thanks, Jounouchi."

"I'm not going to hurt him!" protested Selket. "I'm not even going to try and take his millennium puzzle, like some people have tried."

"Then…what do you want?"

"Yuugi, it has nothing to do with what I want. It's what I'm destined to do."

"What's that?"

She was silent for a while. "Maybe I'd better start with the beginning."

"Yeah, I wanna know what's goin' on!" put in Honda, still thoroughly nonplussed.

"Yeah."

Selket nodded. "It started the night I turned thirteen. I had a dream then. Before me, I saw the Yami form of every holder of a millennium item. Each one removed their millennium item, or in a one case, items and laid them at my feet. The items melted together and became a beam of light that was sucked into my heart. You yourself, Yuugi, spoke to me and told me of what I would do one day. It was your Yami that told me to start by seeking out the bearers of the millennium items."

"I…he…did?"

"Yes."

"An' den?" asked Jounouchi.

"The rest can wait," said Selket, bowing slightly. "I gotta go now."

"But…"

"The rest will be explained later, Yuugi." She was gone. 


	4. friends?

Yuugi walked up the steps to his favorite spot, high above the city, to watch the sun set like he did when he wanted to think. But the place was not empty. Selket stood by the chain link fence, waiting for him. "Mutou Yuugi."

"Selket."

"I've been expecting you."

"It appears so."

"You come here often, don't you? It's a beautiful view."

"Yeah. I like the quiet."

"I've never taken the time to watch the sunset before." Her eyes were wide, drinking in the colors.

"Hn. Can you tell me the rest of the story?"

"Story?"

"Like, why you're here."

"Oh. I…Yuugi, it's hard. Maybe this is why I found you first."

"What do you mean?"

"It's…your kind heart and the fact that you listen when people have trouble."

"But why does that matter to you?"

She looked at him, and he saw that her face no longer looked so cold and straight. Her eyes glistened. "Yuugi, I'm afraid."

"A…afraid?" he choked. "What do you have to be afraid of? You've got power with the cards and you can mind crush if you have to. You don't even have a millennium item, so no one will be chasing you around for that. Even so, you've got probably more power than I could ever imagine."

She shivered and backed up against the wall behind her, leaning on it. "That's it, Yuugi. Power. Power thrust upon you without warning. Didn't you ever feel afraid of the strength within your millennium puzzle? Didn't it scare you that so much wasn't in your control, and even more that so much was? Did it matter to you at all that things seemed to happen and you didn't know why?"

Yuugi was completely taken by surprise at her outburst. "…Yes…" he managed. 

She took a deep breath and bit her lower lip to stop it from trembling. "Then you know."

"Selket, what's going on?"

"So much, Yuugi. So much I've been told of, and even more that I know nothing about." Two tears trickled down her cheeks as she slid down to the ground. Yuugi knelt beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. "You're so lucky, Yuugi," she gasped through her choked sobs. "You don't have to hide your feelings in front of everybody, and you've got _friends._ You've got people who care about what happens and who'll stand by you." 

He edged a little closer, not sure of what to do. "Se…Selket, I think I'd care about what happens."

She looked up. "Why? I haven't even finished explaining to you what's going on."

"Yeah," he said, the words escaping before he was quite aware of it, "but if you need a friend, I'll be there." 

She nodded, taking a deep breath and wiping her eyes. She blinked, and new tears seeped from beneath the lids.

"It's okay," he said, "you can cry if you have to."

She took a deep shuddering breath and suddenly buried her face in his shoulder. He turned slightly pink, but didn't shove her away. She settled down around the time the sun set, slowly regaining her composure. She stood and sighed, and then glanced at Yuugi. "Thank you," she said.

"Any time," he said, smiling. "It's what friends are for."

"Hn." She nodded. 

"I have to be going home now, so maybe you can drop by tomorrow and finish explaining things?"

"Sure."


	5. soulless

Selket caught up with them on the way to the game shop after school. She was smiling. "It's started," she told Yuugi.

"What's started?" asked Jounouchi.

"What I'm here for, remember?"

"No," said Yuugi.

"Oh, that's right. I haven't told you guys yet. I'm going to dominate the world." She laughed freely with the others.

"But seriously," gasped Honda between chuckles, "you?" He patted her on the head, glad that he didn't have to worry about bloodying his hand like he would have if it had been Yuugi.

"Seriously." She grinned. "With my control over duel monsters, I'll have a virtually infinite army. And if they're destroyed, I can always call up more."

Yuugi felt a chill run down his back. Despite her laughing face, Selket was dead serious about this. His friends, however, thought it was a game and were playing right along. "But if you've got such a huge army, won't it be hard to control them all?"

She smiled. "Not really, but I will have seven elite generals just beneath me. They'll have a deck's worth of battlers under their command-their decks. All powers of magic and traps will be given directly to them."

"Ooh." Honda pretended to be awed. "And who will these privileged generals be?"

"The bearers of the millennium items."

This sent them into fresh gales of hilarity. Anzu put a hand on Yuugi's shoulder. "Go Yuugi! You're gonna be a general!"

"What's up wid dat?" mused Jounouchi. "The shrimps gonna rule the world?"

"Hey!" objected Yuugi. They all laughed some more.

"But how you gonna control the generals?" asked Anzu. "I mean, with so much power, they might rebel."

"No. They can't."

"What do you mean?"

"I met your friend Bakura at lunch today."

"So?"

"He already has begun the transformation into one of my generals."

"What do you mean?" asked Yuugi. He had a bad feeling about this.

"The price is but small: they have only to present me with their favorite card. While I hold it, they will not rebel. His, or rather his darker side's desire for power made him very vulnerable to my promises. I shall have to find someone else to bear the millennium eye, though; he can't have two. Hmm…Shaddhi, either."

Yuugi felt cold all over. "You have Bakura's card?"

She nodded absently, rummaging through her bag. "Here." He grasped the card in trembling hands. The change of heart had a new face; he had seen it like that once in the Shadow Realm. The face was Bakura's.

He couldn't say anything.

"It's painless, really," she said, taking the card back. "It's just terribly convenient. Without their souls, their Yamis are subjected entirely to my will, yet they retain their strategic brilliance. The world has never seen anything like it."

"But…what about…" stammered Yuugi, choking on his words.

She looked grave. "No, Yuugi. You gave me your friendship yesterday. That is enough; I will not demand your black magician."

He nodded, relief flooding him but not quite drowning the uneasiness inside. 


	6. fate n' destinies

They were sitting around in front of the TV that afternoon, not watching anything, just hanging out. Jounouchi and Honda were still doing homework, so it was really very quiet. Yuugi closed his notebook and looked at Selket. "Why do you want to dominate the earth?" he asked.

She glanced up from sorting through her pens. "It's not what I want, remember? It's what I've been fated to do."

"Oh yeah, you told me that. Well, what do you plan to do when you gain control?"

She shrugged. "Well, the world is going to change drastically, right down to daily life. Most of all, the time is approaching for the shadow games to awaken once again. They had a pretty long nap and are growing restless."

Honda froze, remembering a shadow game he had witnessed once. The defeated man's cry reverberated in his memory still. "The shadow games??"

"Yes, what of it?"

"You'll bring them back?"

"I said that already. Is there something wrong with it?"

"But they're brutal! Selket, they were locked away for a reason."

"I'll awaken them for a reason too, and preside over them with the power that Fate has bestowed upon me." 

+

Yuugi couldn't sleep that night. Selket was his friend, why would she want to do something like awaken the shadow games? It was the magic, of course, the lineage that ran in her veins and resided in her heart. It had to be the power too, buried in her very flesh and mind, controlling more than was good. 

He couldn't let her do something like this, though. Bringing back the shadow games could be disastrous. They were dangerous beyond doubt, and people were bound to get hurt or killed. There had to be some way to stop it, but he had no idea how much or what sort of powers she possessed beyond mind crushing. Sure, dueling was almost always like that, not knowing exactly what you were up against. This was different, though. A mistake here could get him killed or obliterated, not to mention what would happen to the entire world. He sighed and kicked off the blankets, fingering the millennium puzzle around his neck. He felt no response whatsoever from the other presence they called his Yami. It was kind of a pity; he had a feeling Yami might have answers or at least some good guesses about all this. 

+

Yuugi found himself hanging out with Selket the next day after school. Honda and Miho had disappeared off somewhere, and Jounouchi and Anzu both had other commitments. Yuugi sat at a picnic table, mentally going over some of his newer strategies. He reached for his deck to grab a few cards to try something when he realized it was gone. He looked up to see Selket surveying a group made up of the Celtic guardian, the black magician, the rude Kaiser, and several other random monsters. 

"Selket!"

She turned. "Sorry."

With a flick of her wrist, the cards returned to her hand in their proper form. She slid them across the table to him and sat down. 

"Yuugi, do you ever wish that you'd never gotten the millennium puzzle?"

He glanced up, looking thoughtful. "That's a good question. It's true that it's changed my life a lot and has brought a bunch of troubles, but I don't think I'd wish that."

She looked surprised. "Why not?"

"I…I wished on this item as I put it together. I wished for true friends, and I got them. Without it, I think I wouldn't have ended up getting to know Jounouchi or Honda or even really Anzu. And with them, I know I can face anything."

She shrugged. "So this friendship stuff is pretty good, huh?"

He smiled. "It sure is."

"Hn. I guess so. I guess I'm just not used to it. It felt…weird to…to have someone who…" She shook her head. "I dunno."

"Someone who cared?"

"Yeah…yeah, that sounds right."

He nodded and shuffled through his deck. "So now do I get to ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Is Selket your real name?"

"If you mean the one my parents gave me, no. Malik's Yami gave it to me in my dream."

"Malik?"

"Never mind. You'll meet him soon enough. Speaking of which, I suppose I should assign your campaigns to opposite ends of the world-unless you'd like a sudden death."

"What??"

"Nothing. We're getting off the subject. Do you know who the original Selket was?"

"The scorpion goddess, right? Of Egypt, I think."

"Yup. Everyone who resists will soon feel my stinging scourge. But Selket was also the goddess of birth…and I'll bring this world into a new life under my reign."

"A life of shadow games and the days of old," said Yuugi grimly.

She beamed. "Right! It will be like the long gone times of glory once again."

"You'll be unstoppable, won't you?"

She nodded. "Invincible, Yuugi. It will only stop if I am killed. Furthermore, I must die by a millennium item to be fully stopped. Otherwise, I'll return eventually and continue where I left off. And unless I specifically agree not to take their card, no bearers of the millennium item will even contemplate destroying me. That means only you, Yuugi, would be able to kill me, and we're friends." She looked off into the distance. "Sometimes I wish there were other ways to stop it. If I think on it too long, the fate seems too huge and heavy for me to ever bear. I hope we'll always be friends, but the places of power make it hard to keep friends. A true ruler should avoid having to rely on trust at all times."

"I guess you've sort of got a point," said Yuugi.

She nodded. "I thought you'd see. No offense, of course, right?"

"No…no, it's okay," Yuugi said absently. Then an awful thought struck him. "But my other friends! What will happen to them?"

"I guess I can find them some sort of position, provided they don't trip up my plans, of course. They shouldn't aim too high, though. My generals will be almost the only ones allowed in my presence. Besides, the ambitious ones are often the most dangerous."

"You've got everything worked out!"

"It's rather simple. I found it all out at the very beginning." She sighed. "All this destiny stuff probably makes me sound like some stuck-up delusional."

Yuugi didn't argue. Then again, he didn't agree, either. He was simply listening.

"Sometimes it doesn't feel like it's me talking. I feel like there's another presence there that knows everything that's planned out. It's like…like…"

"Like a Yami," said Yuugi grimly.

"Yeah…sort of. Just, I've seen Yamis, talked to them, dealt with them…that's not what it is. Mine isn't as…separate, I guess you could say. We're more melded, especially in thought and personality. And if you were to use your millennium item on my other side, it would most definitely kill me too."

Yuugi swallowed. "Oh."

"And I'm not affected by mind crushes."


	7. yamis and the end

That night, Yami spoke to Yuugi about Selket for the first time. /_Kill her./_

Yuugi froze with one hand on the light switch. 

/_You're the only one who can. The shadow games must not be allowed to awaken. I should know./_

"Me…there's no way I could kill her!"

/_You must, or she may destroy the human race, herself included. Think, when she is old and dies, who will control the monsters?/_

"…"

/_No one, unless she has an heir…and marriage requires too much trust. The monsters will run in chaos, and her soulless generals will be able to do nothing without a commander./ _

"I won't be soulless…"

/_No, but could you really bring yourself to preside over the shadow games?/_

"I…I guess not. Can't you do it?"

/_It's not my place. You must do it on your own to alter the future she sees./_

"But…"

/_Kill her./_

+

"You seem awfully quiet today, Yuugi," remarked Anzu worriedly. 

"Yeah, are you okay?" asked Honda.

"Huh?" Yuugi snapped back to reality and blinked a few times. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry."

"But I do," insisted Anzu. "You've been like this ever since we met that Selket girl. Is it something that has to do with her?"

"I'm okay, really," said Yuugi, avoiding the question. "I'll be fine."

Anzu shook her head skeptically. "If you say so."

They arrived at the game shop, but Anzu hung back. Grabbing Jounouchi, she stopped him outside. "Don't you think something's wrong with Yuugi? I mean, you're his best friend; haven't you noticed a change?"

He looked thoughtful. "Maybe… I wonder what it is."

"Talk to him, okay? Something's up with him."

"All right."

+

Jounouchi didn't go and talk to Yuugi. He confronted Selket. "Look, I don't know what you're doing, but ever since you showed up, Yuugi's been actin' depressed. What's goin' on?"

She shrugged. "He shouldn't be upset. With the glory I can give him, he should be excited."

"Are ya still going on about that shadow games thing?"

She looked a little affronted. "Of course! I'm perfectly serious about them. Is there a problem with that?"

"Yeah. From what I've heard, they don't sound very nice."

She waved off his comment with a careless hand. "It's just a ritual of power, and power is what matters. I mean, what else is there?"

"Friendship. And that's why I want to know what's up with Yuugi."

She frowned. "Friendship? Friendship is weakness. It takes too much trust."

"Friendship is strength 'cause ya all work together."

Her eyes narrowed, and she snapped her fingers. Bakura stepped from the shadows to stand beside her, his face blank and cold. "Are you contradicting me, Jounouchi Katsuya? You should tread carefully around me."

Jounouchi stared. A slight shiver ran down him as he looked at Bakura's stolid face. The zombie cards he had run into at the Duelist Kingdom had had more life in their eyes than this shell of his friend. "You wouldn't hurt me."

"For Yuugi's sake, I would I'd try not to, but if you should bring it upon yourself…"

"_Yuugi's_ sake?" spat Jounouchi incredulously, his anger getting the better of him. "What are you talking about? There's something bothering him because of you, and you don't do anything about it. You're just-"

"Enough!" shrieked Selket, thrusting a hand toward Jounouchi. Bakura bolted forward at her signal, his hands clenched in fists.

"Noooooooo!" The next thing anyone knew, a blur of color had effectively tripped Bakura and knocked Selket onto her back. She didn't have to see the millennium puzzle poised with its point over her heart to know whom it was.

"Yuugi!" she hissed in a rage. Then she saw his face. He was clearly in pain, torn between his friends. The tears trickled down onto her as his eyes flicked from Jounouchi to Bakura and down to Selket again.

"Please…Selket…don't…"

Bakura rose, but did not make a move. "Shall I kill them both?"

Selket didn't answer. "Yuugi…"

/_Kill her./_

Yuugi gritted his teeth, the tears flowing faster. "I…don't…want…"

"I thought we were friends." Even as her eyes bore into Yuugi's soul, Selket's fingers twitched, catching Bakura's eye. She pointed subtly at Jounouchi.

Hostage. 

They thought in unison, an empress and a general working with the same strategy.

Yuugi caught the movement and turned to see Bakura lock his arm around Jounouchi's neck. At the same instant, Selket took advantage of his distraction and shoved him away. Standing over him, she glared down with a cold fury. "It was a weakness to trust you. I should never have risked it." She bit her lip. "Up! On your feet before me!"

Not knowing what else to do, Yuugi obeyed. Grasping his collar, she pulled him forward in one violent motion. Her lips moved as if to add a harsh word or two, but no sound came out. Although nearly paralyzed by fear, he managed one desperate move: to drive the point of the millennium puzzle into her. At the same moment, he was shocked to realize that her eyes were full of pain, not true anger. "Yuugi…" 

She slumped forward, and he knelt, helping her to the ground. Slowly, she pulled the point from her flesh, and reached into the pocket of her jacket as blood bloomed through the ragged hole. Pulling something out, she handed it slowly to him. He took it and paled. It was the change of heart, stained crimson, with a neat puncture through the middle. He had stabbed it as well. Panic rising within him, he glanced over at Jounouchi and Bakura. Jounouchi seemed a little dazed, but Bakura lay motionless on the ground, growing ever paler. "His…soul…" she murmured. "He'll…die…too…"

The world quivered before Yuugi's eyes for a moment. "No…"

She nodded. "Yes…but…" He hand reached for the card again. Yuugi let her take it. "Here…" She brushed her trembling fingers over the hole, and it vanished. Bakura opened his eyes and sat up looking disoriented. "You…need…your friends, Yuugi… I won't heal myself…it's…better…like…that…"

"Selket??"

"It's like…the future…Isis Ishtar sees… It will come to pass…unless altered…by a millennium item…" She smiled slightly at the comparison and clasped Yuugi's hand, her blood running between their fingers. "Goodbye…" 

She gave a deep, sighing breath and closed her eyes. There was a moment of unadulterated silence, and then she vanished. It was the shattering of an image identical to the death of a holographic duel monster, but without any noise at all. The change of heart card blew in a quiet breeze across the pavement to Bakura. He picked it up, his eyes clearing like one coming out of a dream. 

Yuugi let his hand relax. It had been curled around the air where her fingers had been only moments ago. Scarlet still dripped from his palm. A flash of gold caught his eye as it plummeted from his grasp to the ground. It had not been there before. He picked it up, and a laugh and a sob fought within him to escape. It was a tiny ankh, a symbol of life, now born out of death. Slowly, wordlessly, he rose and walked away.


	8. epi

No one saw much of Yuugi after that. He was quiet in school and didn't want to duel any more. Something about it all made people leave him alone in his brooding, but they did notice. This worried Jounouchi more than when Selket had been around. He was glad when he went up to Yuugi's favorite spot one evening and found him sitting there.

Yuugi didn't notice his friend's arrival, but sat on the concrete, turning his puzzle over in his hands as the rays of the setting sun glinted off of it. This had been where Selket had cried on his shoulder, her tears sealing their brief friendship. Yami had not been out of the puzzle since, but Yuugi could sense a feeling of approval over the death. It made him angry, that his own other half could feel like that. He finally looked up as Jounouchi sat down next to him, breaking into his thoughts.

"Hi," said Jounouchi simply.

Yuugi looked down at the puzzle again. "I killed her," he whispered.

"Hn." Jounouchi studied his friend's downcast face. "She said it was better this way."

"I know."

"That's kind of an old line," mused Jounouchi.

"It is in a lot of movies," agreed Yuugi quietly. "Did you notice, though, it's always the good guys that say that when they die, not the bad guys. The bad guys go screaming about revenge. She didn't…"

Jounouchi nodded. "But there isn't such a clear line between bad and good in real life. Sometimes they seem good, but they're not…or it's the other way around. But there's always a little of both in everyone."

Yuugi blinked. "Yeah. But sometimes there are divides…at least there are with me."

"And Bakura."

"Yeah."

They sat in silence for a little while. 

"Maybe…you should move on," said Jounouchi softly.

"…"

"You didn't know her for all that long, after all. If you dwell on the past, the future passes you by."

Yuugi thought about that. "Maybe you're right," he admitted. "But I can't move on just yet. I…I have a reckoning with myself."

"Okay. An' if you need any backup, you just let me know."

"Right."

Jounouchi smiled. "Yeh. That's what friends are for."

+

Yuugi had pulled on his pajamas and was ready for bed when he decided to talk to Yami. His grandpa was already asleep and wouldn't hear them if they were quiet. As if sensing Yuugi's thoughts, Yami appeared, sitting casually on a chair in the corner of the room. "What's wrong, Aibou?"

Yuugi's eyes narrowed (quite a feat, I admit, considering the size of his eyes). "Aibou? Where have you been? How can you call me that and still be happy that my friend died??"

Yami's expression softened a little. "I'm sorry about that, Hikari. Really, I am. It's just…well, you don't know what the shadow games were like. I'm just relieved that they won't come back."

"You never liked Selket," accused Yuugi.

Yami shrugged. "I never really got to know her. You were the one always talking with her, not me. To me, she was just some impersonal spot in your thoughts. You understand, don't you?"

Yuugi sat down on his bed. "Maybe. Were you really pharaoh?"

Yami sighed and walked over to sit next to his lighter half. "I was, Yuugi. But I was really just a ruthless player in a life game more complicated that I realized. I didn't enjoy killing; it was the victory that I craved. I let nothing stand in my way."

"You never back down," murmured Yuugi, remembering.

Yami nodded. "That's right. But I despise death without a good reason behind it. Maybe the one that bothered me the most was when my high priest sacrificed a woman for one powerful creature of the shadow games."

Yuugi looked as if he was going to be sick.

Yami brushed the topic away with a wave of his hand. "But there are deaths for good causes. Locking the shadow games is one of them."

"Whom did you require to give up their life that time?" asked Yuugi bitterly.

"A young man of high rank," said Yami thoughtfully. "It could have been no other."

"Well, what did he think of that?" snapped Yuugi.

Yami closed his eyes. "He didn't mind, really. His soul would be released after millenniums into a new being."

"A lot of good that does. How old was he?"

"Not too old." Yami looked up, his eyes full of sincerity. "Yuugi…he was me."

Yuugi stared. 

Yami bowed his head. "I know what it's like to give up one's life to keep the shadow games from destroying the world. I had good reasons, and you have to understand that."

Yuugi nodded. "I…understand…" Suddenly, he choked. "It…it still hurts…" He closed his eyes, trying to gain control of himself. 

"I know, Aibou, I know," said Yami softly, pulling the covers gently over Yuugi. "Just sleep now. I'll take care of you."

The next day at school, Yuugi was noticeably happier. He accepted Jounouchi's challenge to a duel and won. He laughed for the first time in weeks the day after. The return of his sunny disposition made everyone else happy too. They didn't notice that every time he drew the black magician in a duel, he slipped his hand into his pocket to touch the tiny golden ankh he always kept in his pocket. He didn't mind.

Owari


End file.
